


You and me, forevermore

by Resa_Saso



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: I'm just uploading any oneshots I wrote for prompts, M/M, You got the idea, as long as it's Doctor/Master, everything, prompt me like...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-04 10:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12769509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resa_Saso/pseuds/Resa_Saso
Summary: I'lI upload all the silly (and less silly) Doctor/Master prompts I get here.





	1. Ally

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, prompt me anything you want, as long as it's Doctor/Master, I'll write you a oneshot (but it might take a while)
> 
> This one's Ten/Simm!Master featuring Davros

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’  
  
The Doctor regarded his not-so-much-friend-at-the-moment with a very cold gaze.   
  
‘Fixing your mess,’ he finally stated calmly, after coming to the realisation that the Master wasn’t being rhetorical.   
  
‘With… with him?’   
  
The pure sound of irritation and confusion in the Master’s voice was sending on of the Doctor’s eyebrows upwards.   
  
‘Who else?’ he wanted to know dryly. ‘It’s not as if I’ve got a whole lot of choice, with you bringing the Daleks in?’  
  
‘But he’s…’ the Master nearly spat while he looked into Davros’ sunken-in face. ‘… He’s a potato.’  
  
Davros stared at him as coldly as his potato-face could manage.   
  
‘You have turned my own creation against me, made them out of bound and a danger for every single one of us and now you have the audacity to go and _insult_ me?’  
  
They glared at each other, the Master with clenched fists and contorted face, and Davros with… well, that same expression he always had, really. It wasn’t as if he was really impressive. If it wasn’t for the Daleks, the Master thought, he was quite unthreatening indeed. Hardly a competition. No stuff of arch enemies at all.   
  
‘Now,’ the Doctor said, still with a skeptical raised eyebrow. ‘If that’s settled, let’s get back to stop these ruthless killing machines that are coming for us and the whole universe, shall we?’  
  
The Master grunted. ‘You don’t need potato head for that!’  
  
With an exasperated sigh, the Doctor turned around to face him, his forehead in deep frowns.  
  
‘Listen, Master, I don’t know what this is about, but right now he’s a super genius who programmed these monsters once before, so he can do it again. You, on the other hand, you’re the – excuse me – _idiot_ that tempered with their settings and is now in danger himself. In fact, excuse me not, it’s less than you deserve. Now, stand in the corner and shut up or run away like you always do, either way, stop. Bickering.’  
  
Had the Master looked any more incredulous, his eyeballs might have fallen right out of his face. He stared at the Doctor wide-gazed, while the other Time Lord tried to fetch Davros’ instructions and put them into practise, all while keeping view on the nearing Daleks over the maps on his screen.  
  
There was sweat on his forehead, he moved frantically and hectic, jumped from one side of the room to the other and never, ever stopped.  
  
The Master sighed.  
  
Well, this didn’t go as planned, this didn’t go as planned at all. He had always enjoyed their little moments, when they had to work together, as allies, to stop some of the catastrophes they had been faced with. To be fair, these always used to be his own catastrophes, but he found he didn’t mind them turning against him so terribly much, as long as it involved solving them with the Doctor.

Now, on the other hand, the other Time Lord was allying with _Davros_.  
  
And he really couldn’t have that now, could he?  
  
  
When the Daleks started hacking the heavy, staled doors that kept them out, he used the distraction to sneak up to Davros’ weird highchair of doom and installed a hidden timer. Within two minutes, the instructions, the Doctor was busily typing into the Dalek’s hive mind would get deleted, one by one, seemingly by Davros’ hand.  
  
With a bright smile, he sneaked back, grabbed inside the Doctor’s chest pocket to get his Sonic Screwdriver and helped Davros with the doors. It wouldn’t hold them back for long and he honestly didn’t know how the Doctor would try to fix the mess he had – once again – created, but two things were for sure:   
  
First, he would. And second, he wouldn’t do so without him.  
  
With a smile, he looked on the clock, awaiting the Doctor’s programming to be deleted any second now. Instead, he was startled by the Time Lord’s triumphant shriek.  
  
‘There we go!’ he clapped his hands together and laughed, while turning around to them, a broad, bright grin on his face. ‘All settled. I also added a few extras.’  
  
The Master frowned and threw another reassuring glance to the clock.  
  
When he looked up again, the Doctor was already looking him straight in the eyes, shaking his head in slight disappointment.   
  
‘You can let them in, now,’ he then smiled and winked at the Master, while fetching back his screwdriver.  
  
Through the metal doors, you could hear the robotic voice of a Dalek.   
  
_‘Would you like some tea?’_  
  
Davros’ face looked as if he was going through an immense amount of pain. The Master was very busy wishing some more upon him, when the Doctor’s lips suddenly brushed his ear, so softly he thought for a second, he was imagining it.   
  
‘Did you really think, I wouldn’t check on what he was doing?’ he whispered darkly. ‘You really are incorrigible. Who would’ve believed, Davros, creator of the Daleks, was a more trustworthy ally than you are?’  
  
The Master growled through gritted teeth, holding the sound back from freedom.  
  
His plan had backfired – again.  
  
He really was his own worst enemy.  
  
  


Davros turned out not to be so trustworthy after all, when he activated a secret option he had programmed while the Doctor had been busy screening his other computer, and all Daleks in the room started to try and burn them with steaming pots of tea, clearly confused by all the different settings and orders they had received during the last hours.  
  
While they ran through the floors on their way to the Doctor’s TARDIS, always ducking away from a new flying pot, the Doctor laughed, manically so.  
  
Once the blue, wooden door fell shut behind them and the Master had gained back a little bit of breath, he turned to the other with a raised eyebrow.  
  
‘What’s so funny?’ he demanded to know.   
  
The Doctor smirked.   
  
‘Don’t you wonder how they managed to make tea, you know, without hands and all?’  
  
The Master stared at him for a few seconds, waiting for the Doctor to tell him.  
  
But the Time Lord just laughed stupidly on and on, until, after being asked, very, very politely, he pointed out, he had absolutely no idea himself, he was actually expecting them to be stuck in the kitchens forever, trying to figure it out.  
  
The Master couldn’t help but smile, while the Time Lord was shaken by yet another fit of laughter.  
  
Only when he had calmed down a bit, he finally asked ‘Now, what was this all about? Knowing your history, I can believe you’d make that mistake once, but twice? Feeling suicidal lately?’  
  
The Master shrugged. ‘I just really wanted to see Potato head get killed by his own Daleks, it would’ve made a great image to place on my mental walls. I’d even project it to the other Time Lord’s minds, you know, so their efforts during the Time War weren’t all in vain.’  
  
The Doctor smiled. ‘Oh, silly me! Here I thought you maybe didn’t want me to ally with him.’  
  
The Master tilted his head in mockery, and knowing he had lost this charade already, made it easier just to fool around a bit.   
  
‘Now really, my dear Doctor,’ he said in a tone that reminded both of them of one of his older incarnations. ‘Why would I ever care about that?’  
  
The Doctor laughed a little, then leaned in closer. ‘Maybe, because I’m eternal more willing to shag you after working together with you instead of against you?’  
  
His breath felt warm on the Master’s lips and he could almost taste it, as if it was tangible, caressing his mouth like soft fingertips.  
  
The Master smiled.   
  
‘I did advice you to put a cup on that one Dalek’s eye stock,’ he pointed out, making the Doctor chuckle.  
  
‘Good enough for me.’  
  
No, sometimes, and mostly these times had the Doctor’s lips involved, on whichever part of his body, really, it almost didn’t matter, the Master didn’t mind losing so terribly much after all.


	2. Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thirteen/Missy ; Thirteen/Simm!Master  
>  Major Character death

She wondered if it would ever not hurt.  
  
So many times she’d gone through the same losses and feelings, lived it all again and again.  
  
Pain, guilt, longing, whenever it happened, no matter how often, now matter in what way, gone in anger, gone in fear, gone in unity.  
  
The Doctor’s hands trembled slightly, while she held the woman in her arms close to her chest. Tears filled her eyes, but she barely even noticed. Desperately she was clawing the lifeless body, searched for the familiar sound of a double heart beating, even though she knew, she just _knew_ , there wouldn’t be one.  
  
‘Missy,’ she whimpered, surprised at the sound of her voice. Oh right, she was a woman now, she had forgotten. The pain still felt the same, the tears still tasted salty. The only thing different was blond hair that fell into her eyes like little curtains, blocking the view from anything except the still face underneath hers.   
  
‘Missy, please!’ she begged.  
  
She didn’t know why she begged, she sure as hell wasn’t the type to beg, that wouldn’t have changed, either. She was, however, very sure Missy would appreciate the notion. Had she been alive to hear it, that was.  
  
Yes, yes, it still hurt exactly the same. The same sort of hurt that made her breath gasp and her chest burn, made her cry, even though crying never solved anything, made her feel more alone in the universe than ever before.  
  
The last thing should’ve been a newer thing, a thing that had started after the destruction of Gallifrey and ended when she got it back, but the truth was, no matter when the Master had died, no matter who she had left… She had always felt alone without them.  
  
She wanted to say something nice, but all she could think of was ‘You win’ and this didn’t feel like winning. The other Master, the one who had been there before her, for him dying had been winning, an attitude none of his former selves had ever even thought of sharing. Neither had Missy, she knew, she just knew.  
  
Missy wanted to be with her, oh God, she wouldn’t have died to get away from her, she just wouldn’t have.  
  
And yet she was dead and the Doctor couldn’t help but feel it was her fault. Her fault again. She relived it all, the flames, the Eye of Harmony, the Valiant, the return of Gallifrey, she heard him beg and shout and smirk, but the loudest of all, she heard him protecting her, telling her to go out of the way.  
  
And her she lay, dead, cold, so fragile all of a sudden, her never dying, deathless constant in the universe.  
  
  
Behind her, leaves rustled.  
  
Softly, the Doctor let Missy sink back into the moss, drew in a deep breath to give herself some seconds to hide her tears and then jumped back to her feet.  
  
When she turned around, she had taken a defiant position, her hands on her hips and her chin raised proudly.  
  
In front of her stood the Master, smiling, a hand pressed over a bloody wound in his side. The Doctor jumped towards him and managed to just catch him the second his legs gave out.  
  
He laughed gasping while looking up to her.   
  
‘I’m having some kind of a déjà-vû.’  
  
‘Nothing I want to think about right now,’ the Doctor mentioned coldly and leaned in to examine the wound.  
  
The Master snorted.   
  
‘Don’t even try’, he growled. ‘I’m already regenerating, just holding it back a bit longer. It’s my own fault, really.’  
  
The Doctor nodded towards Missy. ‘Did she do this?’  
  
A slight nod was her only answer and the Doctor frowned.   
  
‘Did you do this to her?’  
  
Another nod.  
  
She couldn’t help but shake her head, not sure whether she should be horrified or amused.  
  
It was just… it was just so typical.  
  
The Master coughed blood now.   
  
‘Just regenerate.’ The Doctor’s voice sounded lifeless, tired. Oh God, she had said these words to him before.  
  
He seemed have to noticed, a faint smile appeared on his blood stained face.   
  
‘I will,’ he assured her. ‘But she won’t. She _can’t,_ Doctor.’  
  
She closed her eyes. She had to. She couldn’t see the look on his face, when he said it.   
  
_‘I win.’_  
  
  


She still held him.  
  
She held him until he changed his face, she held him until she was a woman, she held her still, when Missy slowly came to realize, she didn’t win, because they both had lost.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ten/Simm!Master.... and a horrific jumper.

‘ _What_ , by Rassilon’s mighty underwear, are you doing?’  
  
The Doctor looked up with a cocked eyebrow, only for a second or two, then looked down at his… _thing_ … again.  
  
‘New question,’ he said, ‘why is Rassilon’s underwear mighty?’  
  
‘Why not?’ the Master yawned while sitting down next to his not-so-enemy-at-the-moment. ‘Everything about that fool was mighty, even his inevitable death, so why not his underwear?’  
  
‘Mightier than you?’ the Doctor asked with an innocent tone. The other Time Lord decided to let the provocation slide, regarding the fact that the Doctor wasn’t even interested enough in his reaction to _look up_.  
  
‘Don’t distract,’ he commanded instead. ‘What are you doing, Doctor?’  
  
‘Knitting, obviously,’ the Time Lord replied, still completely focussed on the work on his lap.  
  
‘And why would you do that?’ There was impatience in the Master’s voice and the Time Lord couldn’t help but notice, it made the Doctor grin.  
  
‘I’m knitting a jumper for you.’  
  
‘A… jumper?’ the Master repeated lamely. ‘I… am currently working on a program to mind control the whole Earth and you’re… knitting a jumper?’  
  
The Doctor nodded earnest.  
  
‘But… I’ll… control the whole planet.’  
  
‘Have fun.’  
  
‘Have… What the hell? Don’t want to stop me?’  
  
The Doctor looked up, frowning. ‘Not right now, after the jumper I wanted to do a matching pair of socks.’  
  
‘Socks.’  
  
‘Yes, socks. And maybe a scarf? What do you think, a scarf in these colours?’  
  
‘Why not,’ the Master replied toneless. ‘Just don’t make it as long as your fourth incarnation’s scarf.’  
  
The Doctor looked startled. ‘Isn’t that normal scarf size?’  
  
With a last exasperated look at the Doctor’s… _knitting_ , the Master left, slamming the TARDIS door behind him.  
  


Only to enter a few hours later with a deep frown burrowed into his forehead.  
  
‘You’re back again?’  
  
The Master shrugged. ‘I had nothing better to do and I hoped you’d have quitted this new… hobby of yours by now.’  
  
‘I’m nearly done with the jumper!’ the Doctor beamed. ‘If you stay a bit, you can see it!’  
  
‘Great’ the Master murmured, walking around the console, pressing random buttons that made the TARDIS shake. The Doctor threw him a warning gaze.  
  
‘Stop doing that or I’ll have to start again.’  
  
‘I’m bored,’ the Master spat back.  
  
The Doctor sighed. ‘Didn’t you have an Earth domination plan you were working on?’  
  
‘I dropped it.’  
  
The Time Lord looked up from his knitting, only to see the Master sulking.  
  
‘You dropped a perfectly fine mind control plan? How come?’  
  
The Master shrugged. ‘Somehow, it wasn’t as much fun as usual.’  
  
With a cocked eyebrow, the Doctor raised from his sofa, a terrible coloured, blue-orange jumper in his hands. He spread it in front of the Master’s face, presenting him its backside.  
  
‘What do you think?’  
  
Unimpressed, the Master stared at it. ‘Well, it does have the form of a jumper, congratulations.’  
  
The other Time Lord smirked at him, then suddenly started to attack. With a quick launch, he dashed towards the Master, pulling the jumper over his struggling head.  
  
‘Hey!’ the renegade shouted. ‘Stop that!’  
  
Having finished his terrible deed, The Doctor pulled back, grinningly eyeing the Master, who had his arms still free of the jumper that dangled around his neck.  
  
He beamed. ‘It fits, though! I wasn’t sure what size you have this time around, so I had to eye-measure.’  
  
‘You knitted this monstrosity for me?’ the Master asked with disgust.  
  
The Doctor chuckled. ‘It says so on the front.’  
  
When the Master looked down on himself, he froze.  
  
In huge, orange letters knitted into the jumper were the words:  
  
‘ _Universal domination is boring without the Doctor.’_  
  
‘You got it wrong,’ the Master finally brought out, tone resigned. ‘I went for planetary domination.’  
  
The Doctor shrugged. ‘I had to assume, it was very early when I started knitting it.’ He smirked. ‘Either way, I think that was the most relaxing thwart I ever did.’  



	4. Uranium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am aware the people who prompt me, must hate me. Wait, till you read Two/Roberts!Master + Lego......
> 
> Also, this is Three/Delgado!Master + Uranium

‘Can you give me one good reason, why you did this?’ the Doctor asked while offering his frenemy a cup of tea.   
  
The Master growled and grabbed the tea with softly shaking hands, while giving him an exhausted nod.  
  
The Doctor decided to specify.  
  
‘A _good_ reason, as in one that doesn’t include world domination.’  
  
The Master dropped his gaze and sipped on his tea darkly.  
  
Typical, the Doctor thought with a snort.  
  
‘No, but really,’ he sighed. ‘Uranium? You really should know better, you never tolerated radiation, I think you might be allergic.’  
  
‘I am not allergic to Uranium,’ the Master grunted, but his anger only caught him a smug smirk on the Doctor’s face.  
  
He slid the cup with the tea away. ‘Actually, I’m already feeling better. Thank you, for your hospitality, Doctor, now, if you’d excuse me…’  
  
He tried to get up, subtly supporting his shaking body with one hand on the table, but quickly sagged back into this chair nonetheless.  
  
The Doctor eyed him with a cocked eyebrow.  
  
‘Except!’ the Master continued, as composed as if his weakened legs weren’t trembling underneath the table. ‘Maybe you want to help me get some Uranium?’  
  
With an affectionate little smirk, the Doctor shook his head. ‘You are truly incorrigible, do you know that? The only thing I’ll help you get is some sleep. Come on.’  
  
‘What’ the Master brought out. ‘Here? That is hardly appropriate, my dear Doctor!’  
  
‘Well, I’m not carrying you into your own TARDIS, just to watch you faint in some atomic waste storeroom, trying to steal more Uranium, stubborn – and idiotic – as you are.’  
  
The Master chose to ignore this remark, as he saw no other choice then to let the Doctor guide him gently to a near bedroom in his TARDIS.  
  
Even the weakness his radiation sickness had brought over him – well, he might as well admit it, he couldn’t even fool the Doctor, no need to fool himself – didn’t stop the Master from crumpling his nose.  
  
‘What is this?’ he asked. ‘Someone’s been sleeping in here lately. You’re giving me the bed of one of your apes, you can’t be serious, I won’t…’  
  
With an eyes roll the Master would take him accountable for, as soon as he was back on his feet, the Doctor pushed him into the soft sheets of the bed.  
  
‘Just sleep,’ he sighed. ‘You’ll feel better in the morning.’  
  
The Master didn’t want to, he really didn’t. But with a slight ‘Oh’ that got stuck in his burning throat, he realized the bed smelled of the Doctor.  
  
And really, what better cure was there for radiation sickness?


	5. Zygons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of my favorite, but don't tell the others, they'll only get sad.   
> Ten/Simm!Master + Zygons (And a little bit of angst, but I fixed that!)

‘I should’ve known you were behind this.’  
  
The Master nodded. ‘You really should’ve. Now it’s a tad late for regrets, though.’  
  
‘Zygons,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Of all the accomplices you could’ve chosen. Why Zygons?’  
  
The Master stared at the tied up Time Lord in front of him, in his eyes was clear disbelief. ‘Why not?’ he finally asked. ‘You’re here, in my clutches, helpless and unable to stop the destruction we caused. It worked, didn’t it?’  
  
‘Well, yes it did, but let’s be honest here, it would’ve worked more elegant with any other species. I suppose you were just protecting yourself and for once allying with a race you could actually beat if they’d betray you?’  
  
The Master stared.  
  
And stared.  
  
Then smiled, shockingly cold.  
  
‘Yes, my dear Doctor, I was indeed. As for you – Nothing left to protect you, is there? So maybe you should look out to who you’re insulting.’  
  
‘Oh come on,’ the Doctor replied and smiled his most charming smile. ‘You’re not really going to kill me, are you? You need me to tidy up your mess.’  
  
‘Oh, but maybe I am,’ the Master gave back, dangerously composed, but the Doctor could hear his voice trembling in supressed rage. ‘Maybe, Doctor, maybe I’ve just had enough. Of you, your consistent arrogance, your way of assuming everyone’s life revolves around you and yet ignoring them, cutting them down to size, making them _crave_ your affection and yet never getting enough, maybe I’m just tired of it. How is that, Doctor, do you think that could be possible? Or doesn’t it get into your self-centred, ignorant mind?’  
  
The Doctor had opened his mouth halfway, to throw in some protest, but shut it now, stunned. He stared at the Master with wide eyes.  
  
‘That’s how you feel?’ he finally asked. ‘You’ve really had enough of me?’  
  
‘Is that so hard to believe?’ the Master snorted. ‘It’s not as if there was anything left to feel, but frustration and anger, really. Or did you think you’re attractive to me, running around with a body and outfit like an idiot?’ He laughed, bitterly, a cold gaze stuck on his face. ‘Did you honestly think I’d still love you? Because there is nothing inside here, than the urgent need to finally end your pathetic existence, Doctor.’  
  
Oh, it was all fun and games, chasing and being chased, the thrill of it, the nights they had spent together in a silent truce, the nights they’d never mention in their games, on their playgrounds. But now the game had become serious and the nights had become rare and it hurt, hearing these words, it hurt more than the Doctor had expected. And he was quite experienced with hurt. He had had quite a lot of it, he had seen worlds die, he had _caused_ worlds to die, he had lost people, he had laid awake at night, wishing for someone to be there, crying, like everybody else had, and sometimes, very, uniquely rarely, the Master had been there.   
  
And he had always left again.  
  
And maybe that was the worst hurt of it all, the sting that sat deepest, at least until now.  
  
The Doctor tried his hardest to hold back the tears, raising his chin slightly, to hide that he had to clear his throat.  
  
‘Do it, then,’ he challenged the Master. ‘Kill me.’  
  
The Time Lord now stepped closer to him, his gun in one hand, a terribly cruel grin on his face.  
  
He leaned towards him to whisper a word into his ear and the Doctor closed his eyes, feeling his warm breath on his skin.  
  
‘Happily.’  
  
The Doctor saw it in his eyes, the hate.  
  
And Rassilon, it hurt.  
  
‘That’s it?’ he asked in a broken whisper. ‘That’s all you have to say to me before you finally kill me?’  
  
The Master smiled. ‘It’s already more than you deserve, Doctor.’  
  
The tied up Time Lord nodded, his eyes fixed on the gun in front of him, a gun that would soon destroy both his hearts, and then closed them with force. He felt hot tears welling up and for the first time in a very, very long time, he realized he was in love, and being in love hurt.  
  
And he thought about the Master, who might’ve carried this constant realization with him, who might’ve never forgotten and was now in so much pain and frustration, he had grown completely cold.  
  
He sobbed.  
  
Maybe it was what he deserved after all.  
  
He ripped his eyes open, wanting to say something, wanting to apologize as long as he still could, but instead fell silent with a slight frown on his face.  
  
In front of him stood the Master, but in front of the Master, on the ground, lay… another Master, visibly hurt from a hit on his head and bleeding.  
  
Slowly, the figure turned into something uglier and the Doctor realized with a sudden feeling of complete stupidity, that he had been talking to a Zygon.  
  
The Master watched him for a second with a frown on his face, then shook his head and freed the Doctor from the ropes. When the Time Lord sagged into his arms, he held him tightly and close to his chest. He could feel the calming double heartbeat right next to his ear, confirming to him that he was in the right man’s arms.  
  
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered, and because he couldn’t tell the Master in the face, he buried his own in his shirt, freely crying now. ‘I’m so sorry.’  
  
‘For the record,’ the Master sighed, while picking him up and slowly putting him back on his feet. ‘Never insult Zygons. Not ever again. You’re really terrible at recognizing them, and don’t think I wouldn’t know you snogged one of them, they told me everything.’  
  
The Doctor couldn’t help it, he laughed. Hesitant and shaky, but it was a laugh and it was what the Master had intended, he could tell.  
  
‘Also for the record,’ the Master added, while supporting him out of the dirty storage room. ‘I love you.’  
  
The Doctor stared at him, stunned.  
  
‘And you better really add that to the record, because I’m not going to tell you again. Two time’s quite enough as it is.’  
  
‘But I…,’ the Doctor began, staring at the Time Lord next to him, mouth gaping.  
  
‘Yes,’ the Master interrupted. ‘You _are_ an idiot and you _do_ all these things that stupid Zygon told you you’d do and you treat me like shit, without even noticing it, but I’m no saint, I know that. And I still… It doesn’t change a thing, Doctor.’  
  
‘Okay,’ the Doctor stammered. ‘I…’  
  
‘Shut up, I don’t want to hear it.’  
  
‘But…’  
  
‘I don’t need to.’  
  
‘Just let me…’  
  
‘We’re still enemies.’  
  
‘You just saved my life.’  
  
‘Occasionally not enemies, depending on whether I need you or not.’  
  
The Doctor smirked.  
  
‘You always need me.’  
  
With an amused glim in his eyes, the Master kissed him on his forehead. ‘Now, there’s that arrogance I so love to hate. Now come on, you need to stop a Zygon invasion.’  
  
The Doctor didn’t stop to remark that the Master had said ‘love’ yet again.  
  
He even pretended not to notice that the Master tried to kill the Zygons with unmerciful rage.  
  
The Doctor went by his side silently, all the way back to his TARDIS.   
  
But he had calmly decided that this night, he wouldn’t let the other Time Lord leave.  
  
Because this night, it was time to give him everything he had.


	6. Divided

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ten/Simm!Master + Divided

‘Okay, but which of you is Team Master?’ the Master asked with a glim in his eyes.  
  
Startled, the Doctor stared at him.  
  
‘Excuse me?’  
  
The Master, tied up as he was, grinned wildly towards the Doctor. ‘You think he’s the worst that could happen to you? You haven’t seen me in action yet. Really, you want to be on my side when I’m done here. And don’t think I’ll be tied down forever. He’s a lousy guard. Always running off.’  
  
‘I’m not… that… are you trying to get Ice Warriors on your side, are you serious?’  
  
‘What do you mean, trying?’ the Master smirked. ‘They’re already convinced.’  
  
‘No they’re no…’ The Doctor turned around with worry in his eyes, noticing two Ice Warriors getting closer to him, weapons raised. ‘Are you kidding me? We just agreed to work together, didn’t we?’  
  
‘You threatened us!’ one of the Ice Warriors pointed out in their usual panting tone. ‘So we had to agree. Now he is threatening us.’  
  
‘Yeah,’ the Doctor replied with a dark glare to the other Time Lord. ‘That’s kind of what he does.’  
  
‘You did it as well,’ the second Ice Warrior retorted.  
  
The Doctor froze.  
  
‘I do what is necessary to protect this universe,’ he said calmly. ‘He does everything in his power to destroy it.’  
  
‘That’s why I’m more fun,’ the Master threw in.  
  
‘That’s why you’re alone,’ the Doctor spit back.  
  
Silence settled in.  
  
The Ice Warriors watched in confusion, as the Master’s face darkened and the Doctor’s eyes widened.  
  
‘I… I didn’t mean…’  
  
‘It’s exactly what you meant.’  
  
‘It’s just… I mean…’  
  
‘It’s okay, I get it.’  
  
‘No, it’s just…’  
  
‘Spare me your pity, Doctor.’  
  
‘We’re just too different, you and me.’  
  
‘Who was talking about you and me?’

They stared at each other, a silent fight of who would look away first.  
  
The Doctor lost, of course he lost. He never expected to win, not with the Master as his enemy. Always his enemy.  
  
He turned back to the Ice Warriors.  
  
‘Tell you what, no one threatens you today. Take your ship and leave this planet alone, I’ll take the Master and we’ll leave you alone. How does that sound?’  
  
The two aliens looked at each other, then looked back at the Time Lords.  
  
‘We accept,’ the first of them said.  
  
‘You two aren’t as different as you might think,’ the second one said.  
  
The Doctor smiled.  
  
‘No, we’re really not. Just divided.’  
  
But when he helped the tied Master to his feet and slowly entangled him from the ropes, he could’ve sworn he felt the other’s body gently leaning on his, warm breath on his neck, a soft nose brushing the side of his cheek.  
  
It was over with the blink of an eye, left less traces than a feather in the snow, but for a second, maybe, they were okay.  
  
And then the Master kicked him in the guts with his knee.  
  
‘And this, dear Doctor,’ he chuckled, ‘is why you’re alone.’


	7. Poison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is Ten/Simm!Master, but I'm having a few warnings!  
> This is:
> 
> \- dark  
> \- contains a major character death  
> \- and has some suicidal tendencies, so don't let it trigger you & be careful, please. <3

The Doctor had often imagined dying, you didn’t really come around that while doing what he did.  
  
He had always thought, if someday he died for good, it would be in some kind of explosion, at the brink of the end of the universe, a heroic death, deciding over the faith of all that was out there.  
  
He had imagined gloating and loud, last words, encouraging someone left behind to walk in his shoes – Though even he had to admit that no one truly could.  
He hadn’t imagined it like this.  
  
Death was gentle, he noticed. It was like softly drifting into sleep. There were hands that held him and whenever fear got through the soft veil of dizziness, the Doctor clung on to them. They made him feel better.  
  
When imagining dying, the one thing he could’ve never imagined was him dying alone. Now there was someone beside him.  
  
He felt the Master’s smile on his cheek, rough teeth biting his soft flesh, warm lips stroking calmingly over the fresh wounds. The Doctor shivered while feeling utterly powerless, but it was the good kind of shiver, the sort of shiver you got while watching a horror movie, waiting for the monster to creep you out.  
  
‘Are you scared?’  
  
The Doctor had to think about it. Everything felt soft and numb, he was sure, if he just closed his eyes, it would feel like being back on Gallifrey, like lying underneath two burning suns, in red grass. But he was trying to keep his eyes open for as long as he could, just to look at the Master a bit longer.  
  
‘Of dying, no,’ the Doctor finally answered, long and dragged out. ‘But I don’t want to leave you.’  
  
The Master looked stunned for a short second, like he didn’t expect this answer. He probably didn’t. Even while dying the Doctor realized this was his last chance.  
  
‘Are _you_ scared?’ he wanted to know.  
  
The other Time Lord shrugged. ‘What of? I’m not the one dying.’  
  
The Doctor had to laugh at this, he couldn’t help himself. ‘All these times of escaping death, all these times I thought I’ve seen the last of you. And you have never learned what the worst part of dying is?’  
  
The Master rolled his eyes. ‘Tell me then,’ he gave back gently. ‘One final lecture of the precious Doctor. What is the worst part about dying, hm?’  
  
The Doctor smiled at him, pity shining in his eyes. ‘Losing the one who’s dead.’  
  
There was fear in the Master’s eyes now, mixed with realization, but he hid it underneath a smirk, like he always did and the Doctor acted as if he hadn’t seen, like he always did.  
  
‘You really think I care?’  
  
The Doctor sighed.  
  
‘No, of course not. But I really think I’m dying. And I know, since you poisoned me, you expect me to be mad. Or hurt. Or to tell you, you win. But you lose, we both lose. And I just want to tell you, that I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have left you, but you made me and now I have no choice.’  
  
Did his voice echo or was that another side effect of dying?   
  
He could feel the Master’s hands holding him, they were the ones clinging now. It was alright, though. He found he liked it.  
  
He soundly faded away in the Master’s arms, silence deafening and yet comforting, feeling nothing but the other Time Lord’s steady heartbeat, his breath, his life, while his own slowly drained away.  
  
‘I shouldn’t have…’ he suddenly heard, a broken sob, something that found his way through the heavy wall of fog that had started to cover the Doctor’s mind. The Master had thrown himself over him, cried on his chest, in his hair, shook him, trying to keep him alive, keep him sane, before he finally settled to pull the lifeless body on his lap, hold him close. ‘I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have, I shouldn’t have. Don’t be scared, oh God, don’t be scared, I shouldn’t have ever…’  
  
The Doctor managed a faint smile.  
  
‘Why would I be scared?’ he breathed. ‘I’m not the one who’s living.’


	8. Lego

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two/Roberts!Master + Lego  
> A tiny little bit of angst, maybe?  
> I need people to please acknoledge I took this absolute crack!prompt and turned it into something remotely serious xD

With Jamie and Zoe asleep, there really was a lot of time on his hands, even for a Time Lord. He was sitting inside of his own bedroom, utterly unable to sleep and terrified of dying of boredom in the next time. There was always a possibility.   
  
He hadn’t quite felt himself this night, erratic and somehow shaky. Like something had been bothering him and he simply couldn’t place it.  
  
To avoid this horrific feeling, he had started to play on his recorder. Sitting on his bed, his feet bobbing with the lovely tunes, his face concentrated. So caught up in his own music, he didn’t notice there was someone entering, until he stood right in front of his bed.  
  
The Doctor shrieked and dropped his recorder.  
  
“Hello Doctor.”  
  
With the shock slowly fading, the Time Lord began to frown.  
  
“No no no!” he uttered, “that sounds magnificently wrong! What happened to you?”  
  
The man – The Master, he had realised within seconds – smirked.”  
  
“I believe I’ve gone American, Doctor.”  
  
“Oh, oh no, I’m very sorry to hear that.”  
  
The Doctor stared, erratically fumbling for his recorder again, trying desperately to get some familiar feeling in this storm of unexpectedness without taking his gaze away from his old enemy.  
  
The Master rolled his eyes and handed it to him. The gesture only caused the Doctor to stare even more intensely.  
  
“Is having glowing snake eyes an American trait as well?” he wanted to know.  
  
“Oh,” the Master commented with a tiny little frown. “I forgot about that.”  
  
And to the Doctor’s utter terror, he pulled out sunglasses – _sunglasses_ – out of his pocket and put them on.  
  
“What do you say?”  
  
The Doctor decided that staring in shock didn’t seem to be enough to express his utter disbelief.  
  
“Terrible,” he finally brought out. “Absolutely terrible. How can you be American? You’re the most British person I know!”  
  
The Master frowned and it just looked a little bit ridiculous because of his high forehead – and the _sunglasses_. Omega, he was even wearing Time Lord Robes! Red, long robes with golden ornaments on each hem.  
  
“I’m not sure whether you’re insulting or complimenting me, but I assure you, you’re not quite the eye-catcher yourself.”  
  
The Doctor merely snorted. “Stop using British phrases, you sound silly.”  
  
The tiniest of smiles appeared on the Master’s face and for a second or two the other Time Lord found this body wasn’t as bad as he had thought just a few moments ago. Smiling looked good on him, even in terrible robes, with sunglasses on and an unfamiliar accent tumbling out of his mouth.  
  
It always had.  
  
“I thought you’d like silly.”  
  
“Oh, I absolutely do,” the Doctor smiled back, wide and beaming. “I just wasn’t aware you’d care for what I like.”  
  
“Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, it’s really not up to me most of the time, not anymore.”  
  
A little, worried look sneaked up on the Doctor’s face.  
  
“The drums? Have they gone worse?”  
  
The Master shrugged. “Not right now, no. They used to, though.”  
  
He simply sighed indulgent, while the Doctor had started snickering.  
  
“You know, I didn’t think you’d amuse yourself over an American accent this much.”  
  
“I don’t,” the Doctor replied. “Usually. It’s just… it feels wrong it’s _your_ American accent, you know?”  
  
Again, the Master rolled his eyes, not bothering about the sunglasses blocking the Doctor’s view. He knew the other Time Lord knew, anyway.  
  
“So…,” the Doctor finally asked. “What are you doing here anyway? I assume you’re not trying to kill me, that would be exceptionally boring.”  
  
The Master smirked. It was a familiar expression on a stranger’s face. In some ways, the Doctor couldn’t help but think it was soothing.  
  
He didn’t even know what he was being soothed for.  
  
“And bored you are, I can sense it.”  
  
He couldn’t help but smiling up at his old-friend-sometimes-enemy with an affectionate look on his face. “And you’re here to help me out?”

Was he mistaken or had there been a flash on sadness on that strange, unfamiliar face? He couldn’t tell for sure, not with the sunglasses in the way, but something had been there. And then the Master smiled it away.  
  
“Oh, absolutely, I have just the remedy for boredom.”  
  
“Have I any reason to be worried?” the Doctor wanted to know and with a hint of confusion over how he did it, the Time Lord watched how the Master pulled out a whole, huge set of Lego from behind his back.  
  
Taken aback, he found his own mouth wide open.

“I… Lego?”  
  
The Master shrugged. “It’s American culture. This body left me with quite a craving for it.”  
  
“It’s Danish, Master. So this isn’t _your_ body, I take it?”  
  
The other Time Lord just shrugged sheepishly.  
  
The Doctor hesitated for only a second, then he stepped forward and took the offered Lego set, a bright grin on his face.  
  
“I’m relieved then!”  
  
And with enthusiasm he spread out the individual components on his bedroom floor, starting to sort them in colours.  
  
The Master watched him for a while with quite an affectionate smile, then sat down right behind the little, happy man, winding his arms around him. With a little sigh, the Doctor leaned back into the embrace and happily started to build. The Master had forgotten how easy it had been, once, before all the bitterness and battles had started. It felt like returning home after a long, long drive, lost out in the night.

  
“Let me help,” he smiled after a while they had silently enjoyed each other’s company. “What are you building?”  
  
The Doctor looked sideways to where the Master’s chin was propped up on his right shoulder, his face right next to his.  
  
“A little cottage in midst of Gallifreyan forests,” he smiled. “The perfect place for two young friends to retreat from all the pressure and bores of Academic life.”  
  
The Master grinned. “Right, I’ve heard of that.”  
  
He took down his sunglasses and began contributing a piece of Lego time and again, mostly still watching the Doctor’s childlike enthusiasm.  
  
He wondered if the Time Lord knew how beautiful he was to him, even in these terrible, American and contorted eyes.  
  
He felt tiredness sink in the closer they got to complete the little building. While the Doctor was still adding little details to make the place look exactly like when they had left it last, he closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to collect his powers. It was a terrible feeling, losing control, for someone who had devoted his lives to gaining it.  
  
“Doctor,” he finally croaked. “I think you’ll have to continue alone from now on.”  
  
He didn’t mean the Lego cottage and they both knew. With shock in his eyes, the Doctor looked up.  
  
“What are you talking about? You could just… stay, you know?”  
  
“And I will,” the Master promised, laid a gentle hand onto the Doctor’s cheek, looking him into his eyes, seriously. “I will. But not like this, I can’t.”  
  
“Why not?” the Doctor demanded to know in a whisper. “You are here now, it worked, why can’t it…?”  
  
“Because I’m not,” the Master replied calmly. “I’m not, Doctor. I’m nothing but an echo, stuck in your TARDIS.”  
  
“You… what?”  
  
The Master smiled and the Doctor only noticed now he was beginning to fade on the edges.  
  
“What… what happened?”  
  
Gentle lips, and for once it didn’t matter which language they were speaking and whose body they belonged to, they were the Master’s, and they stroked his own in light movement.  
  
“Nothing you need to bother about, my dear,” he said and it didn’t sound wrong, it sounded right enough to bring the Doctor to tears. “It’s not your fault.”  
  
“Please, stay.”  
  
“It’s impossible, I’m afraid,” the Master said with regret in his voice.  
  
The Doctor tried to answer, but with a last blur of light, the Time Lord just vanished in front of his eyes.  
  
He bit back his words, replaced them with others.  
  
“An echo?” he asked out loud. “Stuck in my TARDIS?”  
  
He turned his head, and there it still stood, their little cottage, a rock in the storm, their little safe place, ages ago, when they had still been kids and inseparable.  
Inseparable, indeed.  
  
No, he thought after a few moments. He didn’t believe in impossible. In fact, he liked to believe in six impossible things before breakfast.  
And one of them was the Master, with him, always.


	9. Painful Dominoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was prompted with "Painful dominoes" and I'm sorry for everyone who expected crack, because I'm just *that* sort of a person, being able to angst. it. all.

****

“Now you’ve activated the trap for me! In your insufferable need to help, you have doomed this planet. With help of the domino-effect, there now will be a chain of events which will lead to my inevitable leadership of the whole universe and…”  
  
“Seriously, Koschei, I will never play with you ever again.”  
  
“And…” the dark haired boy stammered and then dropped his dramatically raised hands with a sigh. “You’re such a bloody mood killer, Theta, did you really have to spoil this moment?”  
  
“What moment?” the blonde laughed. “You won the most boring game on the whole of Gallifrey, that’s it.”  
  
“Boring?” he spat. “Then why are you playing?”  
  
Theta rolled his eyes. “Because I know you and you were getting us into trouble again if I don’t indulge your weird Master-of-the-universe kinks and keep you entertained for one night.”  
  
“You’re just sulking because I won.”  
  
Theta stretched out on his bed, arms behind his head and a lazy smile on his lips.   
  
“Okay, so… You thought you could settle this with the domino effect. As soon as I entered, you’d propose a new bargain, which probably would’ve been 'Die and save them by absorbing the energy of the radiation bomb or live and let them die'. You’d full know I’d chose the first, but with my death, the artron energy set free would harm the minds of the Valterian and make it easier for you to influence them. I’d try and help with a regeneration sick mind and release the radiation. You’d double win.”  
  
Was Koschei mistaken or had Theta the audacity to look smug. Now, this really wasn’t fair. Looking smug was his thing. And it really wasn’t supposed to look _that_ much better on his friend’s face.   
  
“You know,” Theta said to the ceiling, not even making the efforts of facing him while gloating. “You’ll never win. I just know you too well. As long as you don’t change your game partners, you’ll never win.”  
  
“Now, why would I ever want to do that?” Koschei said in a tone that absolutely wasn’t sullen. “Playing with anyone else is boring.”  
  
Theta snorted. “So winning is boring to you?”  
  
With a shrug, Koschei sat down next to him. “No, it’s not winning. It’s the lack of challenge. If I’d ever win against you, I’d be at least worth the effort.”  
  
Theta chuckled while laying his head on his friend’s shoulder.   
  
“Okay, I’ll start the next one.”  
  
Koschei sighed. Bargains Theta started usually ended up in fluffy kittens and travelling rainbows, but he couldn’t help but indulge his friend every time. Because, if he was being honest, there was nothing better than seeing the young, troubled mind unworried and content for just a few seconds. Not, that he would ever admit that.   
  
“So, I offer you…,” Theta spoke with a coy smile up to him. “A night out in your father’s fields, underneath the great Oak, with a picnic.”  
  
“Or?” Koschei asked, knowing fully he’d take the offer.  
  
“Or a game of Dominoes.”  
  
“A… What?”  
  
“Dominoes.”  
  
“In what way is there any bargaining room?” he wanted to know in confusion, but Theta just smiled, not giving anything away.  
  
There was something about this smile that made him want to dive into it further. This was a mind experiment after all, no real offer, so there wasn’t any danger in not going on the picnic date, right?  
  
“Dominoes it is.”  
  
He regretted his decision the second he saw Theta’s smile vanish. But it was one of the only rules of the game. Once you had chosen, you had to live with your decision throughout the game. Theta was an excellent player, but Koschei was beginning to think this time, they both had lost.

  
  
  
It had been too good to be true, he should’ve known the second the madly intelligent, funny and cute boy had sat beside him, telling him with sparkling eyes about how he couldn’t wait to travel the stars and whether or not he wanted to stay on Gallifrey when he was done with Academy.  
  
Koschei still could feel his hearts racing whenever he thought to that day, a day when everything had changed.  
  
He had wanted to tell him, eventually. How he had been alone all his life. How he had chosen to distance himself from every other Gallifreyan he had ever met, how they annoyed them with their tiny ambitions and their lack of common sense and mind. How his own parents had left him alone, how this one boy had turned it all upside down, had opened him up and been his only friend. The only one he ever needed. The only one he ever wanted by his side.  
  
How could it all come to this? How could Theta now sit beside this girl and forget all about him? Again?  
  
It hurt, he realized. Having stayed distant from all sort of people hadn’t only avoided any sort of dull conversation and other gross things, but also saved him from this sort of pain. Jealousy spread through him, toxic and cold, together with a terrible feeling of helplessness because Theta wasn’t actually _his_ , he didn’t even have a good reason to be angry, nothing to throw into his face but his own pathetic jealousy.  
  
God, he wanted him to be his.  
  
He wanted him to stop staring at this girl like she was the suns of his sky. Had he ever looked at him like this? Of course he hadn’t, no, he wouldn’t, would he? He was just an entertainment to play with, just someone to use and then toss away when someone better came along.  
  
Better? This girl? Probably not. But maybe more social. Nicer? Kinder. Something more of Theta’s taste.  
  
Oh, Rassilon, it hurt.  
  
Without a word, Koschei turned back and went in, where he had come from. He’d rather learn alone in his room than sit outside underneath the warm suns, watching Theta and his new girlfriend.  
  
  
  
It went on when holidays neared. Theta was spending less and less time with this girl rather than him. Koschei hadn’t been particular interested in her, not at all, but he had found out that her name was Ushas. She was some kind of a genius, and always pretty focussed on her work.   
  
If he was being honest, he wouldn’t have thought she was Theta’s type _at all_ – of course he hadn’t tried to find out anything of that sort, the thought had just randomly popped up in his head – But what did he know? There had been a time he had thought he might have been Theta’s type.  
  
Now, he just felt stupid. Incredibly stupid for ever thinking he would be enough to hold this uniquely wonderful boy.  
  
Steaming with rage and hurt, Koschei had packed up his things. Usually, he would’ve asked Theta to come around when the solstices started, so they could spend the festivities together, knowing his friend’s parents weren’t paying much attention to him either. Usually, he would’ve at least said goodbye. But now he just stormed out their room, right in front of Theta’s face.  
  
If his friend wasn’t spending any time with him anymore, he surely wasn’t going to be the one running after him like a kicked puppy.  
  
Theta had wanted it this way, hadn’t he?  
  
And surely, eventually, it would stop hurting. He wasn’t an expert in relationships but he was sure other people would fade away from his mind, if he just concentrated on himself, like he had done all this time before.  
  
  
  
Theta didn’t fade.  
  
His friend had always been stubborn, this he knew, but this constant nagging and hurting whenever he saw a flash of blond hair or heard a laugh that sounded similar to Theta, it was just annoying and unnecessary. Couldn’t he just go? Couldn’t he just leave his life? It was alright, being alone, he was sure he could cope with it, but Theta still felt so near, so close to him, so present in his everyday life, even on holiday, that he just couldn’t ban the blond from his thoughts.  
  
He had to get rid of him.  
  
With tears in his eyes – bloody betraying things, eyes, weren’t they? – he sneaked out of his room by full moon. He couldn’t stand one more second in this too quiet room.  
There was no calming snoring like in the Academy, where Theta would always fall asleep before he did. There was nothing but loneliness and weird, different way of cold, something that froze his hearts.  
  
And so he roamed through his father’s fields, never stopping, never even seeing clearly, with his sight being veiled by tears. Here and there he ripped some stalks out of the ground, trying his best to let out his rage in any way he could.  
  
And then he burned his hands on a flame.   
  
“Ouch!” Koschei shouted and quickly wiped away his tears to find out what had hurt him.  
  
He stared at the candle for a few seconds, a confused frown on his face, then he looked up. Right underneath his father’s great oak lay a huge blanket, stretched out on the red grass. Some parts of the grass was flattened and wherever there was any safe spot, a candle had been placed, lighting up the night like stars on a blood red sky.  
  
And on the blanket, with a slight worried look, sat Theta.   
  
“What are you doing?” he asked confused. “Why did you put your hand into the flame?”  
  
“Didn’t see…” Koschei murmured while nearing him with a suspicious look on his face. “What are you doing here?”  
  
Theta smiled. “Picnic!”  
  
Now this was… the audacity. He was well aware he had no right to be angry about Theta dating this infernal girl of his, but right now, he didn’t care. This was just enough. This had been supposed to be _their_ spot.   
  
“On my father’s lands? You are dating this girl on my father’s lands? Are you serious?”  
  
But Theta shook his head, laughing silently.   
  
“Which girl? Do you see a girl somewhere?”  
  
“I’m not…,’ Koschei began, then spat, “Where’s your precious Ushas then?”  
  
Theta shrugged. “I don’t know. Still at Academy, probably, working on her project. Like always.”  
  
“Don’t… don’t give me that act.”  
  
Theta shook his head in silent amusement. “I’m not acting. It’s all we ever talk about, really. If you had ever asked, you knew. She’s trying to finish a whole model system of actually moving planets, and she's asked me for help.”  
  
Koschei swallowed down every kind of angry response that somehow had lost its value and just stared at his friend silently, waiting for further explanations without even being able to form another question.  
  
How could he so perfectly make him lose all his wind?  
  
“So, what is this then?” he finally managed to ask, pointing to the blanket and the huge picnic basket.  
  
Theta shrugged. “A night out with a picnic underneath your father’s great Oak. I was actually just about to get you. Wanted to make sure the candles wouldn’t burn your property down, first.”  
  
“Me.”  
  
“Yes Koschei,” the blond replied softly. “You.”  
  
“You played with me, didn’t you?”  
  
Theta smiled, ever so softly and Koschei had to wonder, didn’t he hear his supressed rage, didn’t he know how much he hurt him, with all of his claims of how well he knew his friend? It seemed his young friend knew all his ways, all his plans, all his ambitions, but was absolutely and unmistakeably blind about how much he could actually hurt him.  
  
“You chose Dominoes.”  
  
“Well, enlighten me, then,” Koschei replied toneless. “This is dominoes, how?”  
  
“You started a domino effect when choosing,” Theta explained calmly. “I figured you didn’t want to date me, dropped my intentions, spent more time with Ushas, which seemed to make you angry, so I figured that maybe you did… After all. I came here, you came here, and here we are, with a full picnic basket and a whole night for ourselves.”  
  
Koschei could feel a weird sort of calm settle into his upset mind. Date? This was a date for him?  
  
“You thought I didn’t want to date you?” he asked hesitantly.   
  
Not that he wasn’t angry anymore, he was, surely, somewhere deep inside, but right now he just couldn’t face a universe in which Theta felt like he wasn’t enough for him.  
  
Oh no, he knew how much it hurt and he wouldn’t ever do this to him, he just couldn’t.  
  
Theta nodded.  
  
With a sigh, Koschei sank down on the blanket next to him, drawing the basket near to look inside.  
  
“I do,” was all he said while taking out some bread and wine for them.  
  
“Well good,” Theta smiled and looked so sheepish and happy, Koschei could feel the rest of his anger fade at the sight of it. “Because I do, too.”  
  
“Maybe that’s the true domino effect,” Theta had said, after their first, shy and hesitant kiss. Koschei wondered how he was even able to form coherent words while his mind was still busy trying to realise he just held in his arms all he had ever wanted.  
  
“What is?” he asked breathless.  
  
“Us. Always coming back to each other, no matter what. A whole chain of events. Always leading back to this moment.”  
  
It was actually kind of cute, Koschei decided while kissing him again. If fate was what he thought of while kissing him, he was allowed to keep on thinking.  
  
“Pretty painful dominoes then,” he couldn’t help but grunt. “I’d prefer to go the direct way next time.”  
  
  
Theta had the courtesy not to mention he chose the painful way all for himself.  
  
Theta didn’t even mention it two thousand years later, when all they ever did was fight and burn and wait for the domino effect to set in.  
  
The Master wondered if the Doctor still believed in them, because, oh, he did, knowing how painful it could be to watch all these domino stones fall.


End file.
